Flash vs Windows Media Hosting

"Is the bandwidth cost of Flash hosting higher than Windows Media or Quicktime hosting?"

No, it's not. If you're being charged X dollars for Y gigabytes of bandwidth, you'll pay the same X dollars whether you use up your bandwidth serving either flash or windows media files.

Which consumes more bandwidth, Flash or Windows Media?

It depends. While flash files can be smaller than .WMV or .MOV, your bandwidth allowance is used up when people replay the video, because the data has to move (again) through the internet.

People who replay WMV or MOV files which were previously downloaded to their hard disks do not eat up your bandwidth allowance each time they replay your video. Afterall, the data is not moving through the internet; it's moving from their hard disk onto their screen.

I read in some forum that flash hosting is several times more expensive than windows media hosting. What gives?

You'll need to clarify matters with the person who posted that info online. Are they talking about per-Gigabyte bandwidth dollar cost? Or are they talking about the amount of bandwidth consumed?

Bottomline: Don't be afraid to offer your viewers a flash-version of your video.

[ First posted on 01/21/2006 by Manuel Viloria ]